The House unanimously passed legislation on Wednesday to reopen a cyber diplomacy office at the State Department which was shuttered under Secretary Rex Tillerson’s department reorganization.
The Cyber Diplomacy Act, sponsored by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), requires the department to establish an Ambassador for Cyberspace position to lead the office’s effort to better promote cyber security policies abroad.
Bipartisan concern was raised after Tillerson notified Congress in August 2017 of his plans to eliminate the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues and shift its responsibilities to the department’s economics bureau (Defense Daily, Aug. 29). The department’s top cyber official, Chris Painter, resigned from his post earlier that summer.
Lawmakers have urged the State Department to increase engagement on international coalitions to prevent nation-state actors from carrying out malicious cyber activities.
“Now more than ever, we need a high-ranking cyber diplomat at the State Department to prioritize these efforts,” said Royce on the House floor prior to the vote.